Hopefully not the last "Exorcism"

While watching “The Last Exorcism,” I felt something rarely observed during horror films: relief.

Relief that I wasn’t being exploited and relief that at least a tiny bit of style was evidenced by this movie. It was a pleasant feeling.

The movie isn’t particularly original. All films in the exorcism sub-genre owe a debt to “The Exorcist.” The film’s documentary feel is lifted from “The Blair Witch Project,” yet somehow the movie isn’t bogged down by comparisons to those.

The exorcist in question is an evangelical preacher who wants to do one final exorcism. He doesn’t actually believe in exorcisms, despite years of performing them, so he plans to document all his tricks to prove it’s a fake.

Of course, this time it’s actually real. (Shouldn’t someone acquainted with exorcism movies expect that?) As the climax approaches, things start to get a bit silly, but the careful build-up mostly makes up for it. Few current horror films bother with development, and it’s nice to be surprised for once.